AEN in the News

In her essay, Katherine Franke of Columbia University shows a remarkably selective myopia. She seeks to persuade readers we have reached a significant turning point on public recognition of Israel’s suppression of Palestinian human rights—citing rising divestment efforts on American campuses, the election of a few pro-Palestinian voices to Congress, some actions by celebrities, even the behavior of global companies.

After two students were denied letters of recommendation for study abroad programs by University of Michigan faculty members attempting to make a political statement against Israel, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Academic Engagement Network (AEN) have developed a model policy to ensure that universities promote clear standards guiding such faculty conduct in the future.

University administrations in the US are being encouraged to adopt explicit guidelines that would prevent academics from refusing to write study-abroad recommendation letters for students based on their political or ideological beliefs.

On-campus BDS campaigns in 2017-18 were notable for their extremist rhetoric and isolating actions. Everything from a coalition of pro-boycott groups refusing to collaborate with Jewish and pro-Israel organizations at NYU, to a demand from pro-BDS students at SUNY Stony Brook that the campus Hillel be removed and replaced by a “proper Jewish organization…that doesn’t support Israel,” to a mob of pro-BDS protesters shutting down a student government meeting at UCSB. There is little indication that this upcoming year will see any downturn in this poisonous discourse – indeed, a Stanford University student recently stepped downas a resident assistant after threatening to “physically fight [Z]ionists” on campus.

As Jewish and pro-Israel students grapple with the multifaceted challenges posed by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, influential current and former university administrators from the UA and Israel unpacked the nature of the BDS threat and potential solutions during a briefing hosted by the American Society of the University of Haifa this week in New York City.